Sales up in London

Sales in London have slowed over the past month according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium, but the capital is still outperforming the rest of the UK, with growth of 6.2 per cent from July last year.

The figures, released today in this month's BRC-KPMG London Retail Sales Monitor, show that unlike the rest of the UK, which shrunk by 0.9 per cent, sales grew by 6.2 per cent on the same time last year.

Footfall was also slightly down on June and May, but was boosted by the traditional summer influx of Middle Eastern shopper tourists.

However, sales of large electricals continued to suffer according to the report, as the housing market remained slow.

"London retailers continue to outperform their UK counterparts, buoyed in July by tourists, discounts and the central London economy holding up better than the rest of the country," commented director general of the British Retail Consortium, Stephen Robertson.

"But factors affecting other parts of the UK, such as falling house prices and the squeeze on incomes, are starting to impact on the capital, hitting sales of more expensive house-related goods," he added.

His comments were echoed by head of retail at KPMG, Helen Dickinson: "Central London has once again outperformed the rest of the UK, but by a lower margin that we have seen in the previous two months.

"There continues to be considerable variation in performance of individual retailers in the capital and significant swings in individual retailer performance on a week by week basis as they move into and out of promotional activity – highlighting how important such activity has now become in order to drive sales."